My mom is one of those cooks who can make an amazing gourmet meal with whatever happens to be in her fridge. I need a recipe. So when I was home for the holidays I had her teach me how to make one of my favorite soups.
It’s super healthy and vegan to boot. You can whip up a big pot and freeze some for later!
My friend Jen joined me for dinner bringing yummy sourdough bread from Whole Foods along with a delish Kale side dish (recipe to come !). La viola – the perfect winter meal!
Best of all, it tasted just like mom’s, not always the case when I try to replicate one of her meals! Hope you enjoy it as much as I do!
INGREDIENTS:
- 1/2 lb regular dried lentils (usually half of the small package)
- 6 cups of water or vegetable broth (or a mix of both)
- About 1/2 package of frozen spinach (if you prefer swiss chard you can use that instead)
- 1 carrot (finely chopped)
- 1 small potato (finely chopped)
- 1 stalk celery (finely chopped)
- 2-3 garlic cloves (crushed or finely chopped)
- 1/4 – 1/2 c fresh chopped cilantro/coriander depending on how much you like it – i love it! (use dry if you don’t have fresh)
- 1/2 lemon
- 2-3 Tablespoons of Olive Oil
- Can add hot sauce at the end if you like a little more “kick”
- Salt to taste
DIRECTIONS:
- Place lentils and water/broth into a large pot, bring to a boil and then turn down to a simmer. Drop in finely chopped carrot. celery and potato.
- While broth is simmering and veges cooking, in a separate small pan heat olive oil and add garlic and cilantro/coriander to release flavors for a few minutes.
- Add contents of sauce pan into the simmering soup and squeeze in the 1/2 lemon. At this point you can determine how long you need to continue cooking the soup by checking the texture of the lentils and veges (don’t want it to be to mushy, don’t forget it will cook a bit once you turn off heat).
8 Responses to Mom’s (vegan) Lentil Soup Recipe